Placebo by Steven James, a Mysterious Review.

Review: Reeling from the devastation of his wife's suicide, which also took the lives of his five-year-old twin sons, Jevin Banks gives up his life as a magician and escape artist to set out on a new career, exposing those men and women, who promise to improve people's lives through elaborate scams in Placebo, the first mystery in this series by Steven James.

One of Banks's first targets is a pharmaceutical company that claims a new drug can alter a person's thoughts such that they are synchronized with someone else miles — or even thousands of miles — apart. The company's research is an extension of a known phenomenon in which two people in close proximity can, unconsciously, mimic each other's thoughts and emotions. Banks agrees to participate in a clinical study run by Dr. Tanbyrn of the Lawson Research Center and is determined to prove that the study is not only flawed but dangerous as well. The stakes are international in scope, the financial benefit to the company beyond calculation. But someone is equally determined to see that Banks — and the other participants — never live to see the results of the study.

Placebo is a pulse-pounding, continually driven medical techno-thriller. Jevin Banks makes for a most interesting character, driven himself by tragedy and seemingly unanswerable questions as to why his wife would do what she did. On some level he wants to believe that it could be possible to influence others; maybe he could have prevented what happened. There is a good contrast between good and evil and it isn't always predictable, giving this thriller an even finer edge to it. The technology involved is presented in a straight-forward, uncomplicated and credible manner. This is a powerful — and intriguing — start to this new series, one to look forward to seeing how Jevin Banks evolves as a character.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Placebo.

Acknowledgment: Baker Publishing Group provided an ARC of Placebo for this review.

The Queen
Revell (Trade Paperback), September 2011
ISBN-13: 9780800733032; ISBN-10: 0800733037

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Signet Select (Mass Market Paperback), July 2013
ISBN-13: 9780451239785; ISBN-10: 0451239784

Placebo

A Jevin Banks Thriller by Steven James